Interpersonal relationships and drug use over time among homeless people: a qualitative study

Association between religiosity/spirituality and substance use among homeless individuals

BACKGROUND

Alcohol and illicit drug use are prevalent among homeless people. Religiosity and spirituality (RS) have been widely associated with lower consumption of substances. However, evidence of this relationship among homeless people is still scarce.

AIMS

To evaluate the associations between RS and alcohol and illicit drug consumption among homeless people in a large Brazilian urban center.

METHOD

This cross-sectional study was carried out in São Paulo city, Brazil. Aspects such as spirituality (FACIT-Sp12), religiosity (DUREL), spiritual-religious coping (Brief-RCOPE), and self-report questions concerning the current substance use (alcohol and illicit substances) were evaluated. Adjusted logistic regression models were used to assess the impact of RS beliefs on alcohol and illicit drug consumption.

RESULTS

A total of 456 homeless people were included, of an average age of 44.5 (SD = 12.6) years. More than half of the participants consumed alcohol (55.7%) weekly and 34.2% used illicit drugs weekly. Adjusted logistic regression models identified that aspects of RS were associated with lower likelihood factors for alcohol and illicit drug use; conversely, negative spiritual religious coping (SRC) strategies were associated with a higher likelihood to use both.

CONCLUSION

The prevalence of alcohol and illicit drug use among participants was high. RS and positive SRC were important protective factors for lower consumption of these substances. Conversely, negative SRC strategies were associated with risk factors.

Drug treatment service procurement: A systematic review of models, goals, and outcomes

Aim: To explore the goals and outcomes of public procurement of drug treatment services in OECD countries. The study explores how these complex services are procured and delivered. Methods and data: A systematic review of the literature (1990-2020) identified four partly overlapping models of drug treatment service procurement that are here labelled traditional, value-based, outcome-based, and innovative. Results: Even though different forms of drug treatment services procurement are common, only 12 empirical studies that focused on procurement were found. The four models differ in their approaches to design and performance specifications and the role of competition and collaboration in the co-creation of value. Conclusions: Competition and incentives improve neither the efficiency nor the quality or the outcomes of complex drug treatment services. Whereas many studies focus on payment mechanisms, there are important research gaps that relate to the co-creation of value with and for the service-users and other stakeholders.

[Typification and factors associated with violence among the homeless in a municipality of Minas Gerais, Brazil]

The scope of the study was to typify the violence suffered by the homeless population and analyze the associated factors in a medium-sized municipality in Minas Gerais. A cross-sectional study was conducted and data about sociodemographic status, health, risk behaviors and occurrence of violence among the homeless was collected. Multivariate logistic regression was performed to verify the association between exposure and outcomes. Of the 85 respondents, the majority were male (75.3%), aged between 40 and 59 years (59.5%), non-white (86.3%), smokers (69.4%), alcoholics (80.7%) and drug users (53.6%). The overall prevalence of violence was 62.3%. The types of violence most reported were verbal and physical aggression and threats. Being a woman (OR 42.1; 95%CI 27.8-638.0) and being non-white (OR 9.02; 95%CI 1.33-61.1) were associated with a higher risk of experiencing violence. Having no morbidity (OR 0.14; 95%CI 0.03-0.62) and living on the streets for up to five years (OR 0.17; 95%CI 0.04-0.71) revealed a negative association. It was observed how violence is present in the urban context associated with sex, race, self-reported morbidity and time living on the streets.